Education Development Charges

An Education Development Charge (EDC) is a way for school boards to collect funds from growth-related development to purchase land for new schools and to pay for site work required to prepare to build the school. School boards do not receive funding from the Ministry of Education to acquire new sites, but are able to collect funds through EDCs if certain requirements are met.

Education Development Charges are used exclusively for school site acquisition and preparation. Municipal Development Charges fund growth related infrastructure and services such as roads, sewers, policing, libraries, fire, transit, and other public services.

School boards are responsible for setting the EDC rates. The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) rate is $1,311 per residential dwelling unit and $0.35 per square foot of gross floor area for the non-residential charge.

The EDC by-law for the SCDSB came into effect on October 30, 2018. The SCDSB and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board passed new by-laws on October 25, 2018.

Information from public meetings

The Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board held joint public meetings in May and June 2018 to review the current educational development charge policies and to gather public input regarding these policies.​